I have a 2003 Octy 1. L&K 130 hp  6-speed 1.9tdi.  106k miles.  Its a super car in all areas and I love it!

 

I have for a couple of months had a slowly 'leaking' clutch hydraulic system. The master cylinder seems good and so I reluctantly came to the conclusion that it must be the internal slave cylinder which was leaking.

 

The pedal would occasionally fall to the floor and I would need to bleed the system every couple of weeks and top up, etc.

 

This means a gearbox out job and so I decided I needed to be absolutely sure before proceeding.

 

I removed the undertray and hosed down the exterior of the gearbox and then dried it all off. At night I put a piece of cardboard under the gearbox and each morning, there was the equivalent of a teaspoonful of fluid on it. the fluid was clean and light - definitely hydraulic.

 

A dripping point could be seen at the lowest point of the gearbox. I thought this confirmed my fears and the internal slave cylinder was shot!

 

I then noticed that there was a sheen of oil running down the side of the gearbox (not just dripping from the lowest point) and following this upwards from underneath the dripping point, I reached the point where the clutch master cylinder line joins the clutch slave (this is external) and I could then see that the source of the leak was in fact the plastic bleeder assembly or more specifically, the joint of the metal pipe with this assembly.  This had a tiny drip only visible from directly under the fitting.

 

It seems that the pipe is located by a spring clip and then an O-ring.  I suppose its most likely that the O-ring only needs replacing.

 

So, the point of this posting is to know that its often worth looking beyond what seems to be the obvious and no necessarily accept the obvious conclusion and also a plea to anyone with access to Ekta or some-such for some parts numbers.

 

I believe the bleeder assembly might be called the clutch slave cylinder' breather assembly' or maybe 'bleeder assembly' It is the external component of the internally situated clutch slave cylinder on the 02M gearbox.  Its made of black plastic, is roughly an inverted 'T-shape' with the bleed nipple on the top.

 

In truth, it would be great to find that just the O-rings are available and that a VAG number exists for these.

 

Can anyone help?

 

many thanks,  Terry

Edited 19 August, 201411 yr by scotsgent

On my 110 I found it was actually the flared end of the hydraulic pipe which was actually split and causing a leak (but only when the clutch peddle was pressed down) rather than the slave cylinder (which I had already replaced).

 

hth